An environmental impact assessment panel deferred a decision on a plan by the state-run Taiwan Water Corp to expand a desalination plant in Penghu County, one of the driest regions in the country, and asked the company to provide a more detailed plan and agenda for stopping the use of groundwater before approving the plan.
To convert more seawater into drinking water, Taiwan Water Corp intends to expand capacity at one of its seawater desalination plants from 8,500m³ to 13,000m³.
At present, demand in the Makung (馬公) area — the most populous area of the Penghu archipelago — is about 22,500m³. So far, with three reservoirs and a groundwater supply, the water company can barely meet the demand, Wang Ming-yuan, a company public works department spokesman, said yesterday after an environmental impact assessment meeting.
“But we are under pressure to supply more fresh water in the near future,” said another corporation worker, adding that the construction of six hotels in the area was expected to be completed this year, leading to an inevitable increase in demand.
However, the environmental impact assessment panel held off its decision and asked the company to provide a more detailed plan for stopping the use of groundwater — a condition to which the water company agreed when the original plant construction plan was given the green light — as excessive pumping can lead to land subsidence, while lowering the groundwater level can lead to salinization of the supply.
“We gave conditional approval to the original plan on condition that the company would stop pumping groundwater. The company must not violate that condition,” said a member of the assessment committee at the meeting, adding that the underground water level was about 100m below ground.
In addition, to stabilize the desalinated water quality, it has been suggested that the groundwater be mixed with desalinated water, the company said.
About 6,000m³ of groundwater is consumed in the Makung area every day, the company said.
The panel is committed to making a decision at its next meeting, but only after an onsite investigation has been conducted and detailed plans by the water company have been submitted.
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